She makes a farro dish in the fall, a shrimp and pumpkin curry with brown rice from Missouri
and roasted Brussels sprouts, and winter squash with harissa. Also popular is wheat berries with
poached eggs, roasted mushrooms and preserved Meyer lemons. All the dishes are meant to be
shared. “We serve no main courses,” Pederson says.

PASTA AND SALAD

Vegetarians may turn up their noses at the overused eggplant parmigiana, but they do like
pastas. Sarno recommends a vegetarian lasagna or a vegetarian or vegan baked cannelloni.

At FireLake Grill House, a signature dish appropriate year-round is mushroom gnudi, a pasta-like
dish that Kyndberg makes with Brussels sprouts, blends of wild mushrooms and other vegetables
cooked with vegetable stock. The pan is deglazed with white wine and white balsamic vinegar.

Finally, when preparing holiday menus for vegetarians, don’t forget salads, which add color
and sparkle to any meal. At The Wild Cow, a holiday salad includes Georgia peaches and pecans
and a faux feta made from soaked cashews.

Pederson gets a wide variety of apples in the fall and winter. She plans to put an apple and
fennel salad on Found Kitchen’s menu this year.

The best way to serve your vegetarian customers is not to wait for them to ask for somethingspecial, Hogan believes. “If it’s not on the menu, then someone has to stop and figure it out. Sowhy not have vegetarian items on the menu.”And Sarno suggests that when planning menus for vegans and vegetarians anytime of theyear, “Don’t look at it as a diet restriction. See it as a challenge.”

left: this holiday loaf, available at
whole foods stores for thanksgiving
and christmas, is lentil/ancient
grains “meat” with a cranberry/apple/
hazelnuts/kale/herbs stuffing.
right: the wild cow’s roasted corn
and seitan chorizo nachos